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More than 5,000 people have been arrested in Kazakhstan in connection with the unrest that rocked Central Asia’s largest country last week, Kazakh authorities were quoted as saying on Sunday.
In total, 5,135 people have been arrested for questioning as part of more than 100 separate investigations into the riots, according to the state interior ministry.
Kazakhstan, an energy-rich country of about 19 million people, was rocked last week by riots that spread to various cities across the country, killing dozens of people, including civilians and law enforcement.
Rising fuel prices sparked riots a week ago in western provincial areas, but they quickly reached major cities, including the Almaty economic center, where riots erupted and police opened fire using bullets at protesters.
Riots damage
Kazakhstan’s Interior Ministry, quoted by local media on Sunday, said initial estimates put the damage caused to state and private property at about 175m euros.
More than 100 businesses and banks were attacked and looted and more than 400 vehicles were destroyed, Kazakhstan’s Interior Ministry was quoted as saying.
“Today the situation has stabilized in all regions of the country,” said Interior Minister Erlan Turgumbayev, adding, however, that “the counter-terrorism operation is continuing in an effort to restore order in the country.”
A relative calm appeared to be returning to Almaty, with police sometimes firing into the air to stop people approaching the city’s central square, AFP reports.
Arrests for “betrayal”
Despite the fact that law enforcement has taken control of the situation, the arrests of officials and former officials of this state on charges of “grave treason” have already begun.
On Saturday, it was reported that Kazakh authorities arrested the former head of the National Security Committee on suspicion of treason.
Karim Massimov, who was fired this week by this important intelligence body, was arrested along with several other officials, whose names were not made public.
The riots began in response to a rise in fuel prices, but turned into a widespread movement against the Russian-backed government of President Kassym-Yomart Tokayev and President Nursultan Nazarbayev, whose family is widely believed to have maintained influence in Nur-Sultan.
US against Russian troops
At the request of the President of Kazakhstan, a Russian-led military alliance was deployed in Kazakhstan which provoked numerous reactions from the west, in particular sparked the U.S. response.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said the United States has some questions regarding Kazakhstan’s request for assistance from the Russian-led security organization.
Blinken said that the Kazakh authorities “have the capacity to deal with the protests” in a way that would respect the rights of protesters and at the same time put law and order.
“It is therefore not clear why they feel the need to seek outside help, and we are trying to understand more about this,” Blinken told a State Department news conference on January 7.
Dozens of people killed
Local media in Kazakhstan reported that so far at least 13 law enforcement officers have died in the city of Almaty and 353 people have been injured, but the number of protesters killed in the riots is still unclear.
More than 1,000 people in various regions were injured as a result of the riots.
Of those, almost 400 were hospitalized, with 62 people in intensive care, Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Health was quoted as saying.
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